


It Still Beats For You

by chrwrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - No Powers, Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Introspection, Kissing, Love Confessions, Luka knows, Marinette is late, a loveless first relationship, or is she?, peer pressure sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrwrites/pseuds/chrwrites
Summary: "Remember when you told me how I was a loud melody and he was turning my music down? You were right"or the one where the first thing Marinette does after she breaks up with her boyfriend is tell Luka
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 13
Kudos: 96





	It Still Beats For You

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii!!! I won't update Take Me As You Please this week because I have uni exams and chapter 3 won't be ready on time unfortunately :( Hopefully I'll get to update next week!  
> For now enjoy this, I came up with this idea while thinking about my ex boyfriend because my friends used to say the same thing Luka said to Marinette (see summary) to me lol I reinterpreted their words so that they sound like something he would say :)  
> Hope you like it!

The end of a relationship shouldn't make you feel relieved, right? You should feel bad, or guilty if you're the one who ended it. Marinette, despite being the one who wanted the break up, didn’t feel any of this. Instead, she felt relief.

She had finally let go of the weight that carrying a loveless relationship had, and she felt lighter, like she could be herself again.

Her and Raphael had been together for four months, they met at university and went along immediately. It came naturally for them to start dating in their second semester. It was Marinette's first relationship, and she thought that her insecurity and awkwardness came from her inexperience. So she kept dating him, hoping that she would have eventually loosened up around him.

She didn't face the fact that love should come as natural as flowers blooming in spring until now. Was she really that desperate? Why did she listen to the people that said that never having been in a relationship by 19 was weird? She had other stuff to think about, a relationship wasn't her priority. She didn't have to apologize for that.

Still, that stupid peer pressure made Marinette force herself to feel love for someone when she didn't actually feel it. At least they hadn't been together for long, but she wished she'd seen it sooner.

Before realising that her relationship was doomed, she went on justifying her behaviour, " _It's just because we've just started dating, it will take time for me to get comfortable around him_ ", she told herself. Even when she confronted her friends about it, they told her the same thing, "It's fine Mari, Ivan and I were very awkward at first", Mylène reassured, and even though Marinette could see how her relationship was different from the ones she saw around her, she went on seeing Raphael.

When she'd introduced him to her friends, they all approved of him, saying he was a good guy and that he treated her right. So she went on seeing him, ignoring the times she felt uncomfortable around him and telling herself that she shouldn't have high expectations on him, he was nice, that was enough. (No, it wasn't).

The only person who didn't really support Marinette's relationship was Luka, and he was pretty open about it. Sometimes he would throw sarcastic comments around her, some other times he just suggested for her to break up with him because their melodies clashed. He was right, Marinette and Raphael were never meant to be, she wasn't ready to see it until now.

As she left Raphael in the café they’d met, Marinette thought about the first time she unconsciously realized that her relationship had to come to an end. It was April, the spring air was warm and the holidays had just started, so her friends decided to spend a week by the lake at Ivan's family cabin. The members of Kitty Section were joined by their sound technician, their exclusive designer, and their significant others.

Actually, it kind of looked like a romantic getaway for couples since most of her friends dated each other. They told Marinette that she could bring her boyfriend as well but she decided against it because… she didn’t want Luka to feel like he was third wheeling.

That’s how that week begun, and it quickly turned into her sitting on the passenger seat of Luka's car, choosing the music to listen to as he drove, her and Luka walking around the woods alone, late night talks between just the two of them and Marinette not being able to take her eyes off him as she watched him play guitar while they all sat in circle in the living room and sang every song that came to their minds.

She didn’t notice the way heart fluttered when he put a blanket on her shoulders or when they were too close. She hadn’t even noticed how her skin craved his touch in the smallest ways, for example when they were toasting to something or when he passed her the salt during dinner.

What about Raphael? They exchanged brief texts and quick phone calls when Marinette felt like calling him, nothing that kept her away from her friends for too long. Who would have wanted to spend a beautiful holiday by the lake on the phone? No one, and Marinette was fine with hearing so little from her boyfriend.

One night, she told Luka she was confused. She had seen so many different ways to love someone that week that she wondered why she didn’t feel what her friends felt for their partners, and why she felt like something was missing in her relationship with Raphael. Luka listened her rant about it attentively and when she finished, he put a hand on her shoulder, looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Marinette, I think he’s a good guy, but”, he took a deep breath before continuing to express what he had always felt, “he’s turning your music down”.

Marinette looked at him confused, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re so full of energy, so enthusiastic and creative”, he replied, “you’re like a loud melody, so extraordinary that no one would get tired to hear it, and he’s… he’s turning your music down. I can feel it”.

Oh.

That’s when her heart turned to Luka, but her mind wasn’t ready to face that yet so she went on seeing Raphael for another month, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her mind that whispered that Luka was better and that her melody shouldn’t be turned down.

Marinette smiled to herself while walking to her destination, she hadn't felt so light in a long time and she wanted to cherish that feeling. She had another thing to do before the day ended, and she was ready to face it despite its possible negative outcomes. What would have happened if he rejected her? It was probably too late, he must have moved and she was just being pathetic.

She tried to get rid of those thoughts as she waited for Luka to open the door to his apartment, shuffling her weight from one foot to another.

"Marinette? What are you doing here?" he said, his eyes widening in surprise. He didn't expect to find her at the door at 11 a.m. without any notice. If he did, he wouldn't have welcomed her wearing tracksuit pants and a tight tank top, not to mention his bed hair. He had just woken up and was about to have breakfast, for goodness sake. Why was the most extraordinary girl he knew at his door and why was she smiling so big?

"I broke up with Raphael" she answered.

That... was nothing to be smiling about.

"I'm sorry" the words left his mouth before Luka could think of something else to say. Honestly, he wasn't really sorry.

"I'm not" was all he heard from Marinette, the smile on her face growing bigger as he let her walk in. Luka chuckled while looking at her, her bright blue eyes were shining as they had never done in the past months. "Good" he finally said, it wasn't a secret that he didn't actually support her relationship; and it wasn’t because he was jealous of her, but because he saw that Marinette wasn't really happy with him, and since all Luka wanted for her was to be happy and serene, he did everything he could to make her understand that she was making a huge mistake in dating that guy. What was his name again?

Luka offered the girl some tea before they both sat on the couch in the small living room. Marinette put the pink mug on the coffee table in front of her as she started talking, "Remember when you told me how I was a loud melody and he was turning my music down?" she looked at Luka, who nodded, "You were right".

“I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses, Marinette”, the blue haired boy in front of her gave her a smile, the colour in his hair was starting to fade but the deep blue of his eyes made up for it, “you shouldn’t let anyone take your music from you”.

Marinette nodded in agreement, “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure this out”. Luka shook his head, “Some things take time, especially when your heart and your mind are in conflict. You shouldn’t feel sorry for this experience, I hope it made you understand yourself better”, he reassured. If only he knew what all of this had made her realise… Marinette forgot what she had to say, she came here with one thing in her mind and now the only thing she could do was nod at him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, his voice soft and calming as always.

The girl stayed silent for a moment, hoping to be able to recompose herself and find the courage that brought her there in the first place. When she opened her mouth to finally speak, Luka did the same.

“There’s something I –

“It’s okay if you don’t – 

They both laughed at each other, then Luka motioned for her to continue.

Marinette was trying to find the words again, she looked away from his gaze and then turned back to him, feeling a sudden shiver down her spine as their eyes locked. The atmosphere in the room wasn’t as light as before, Marinette’s smile faded from her face and Luka’s expression turned serious at her change of behaviour.

“I realized something” she said eventually, _perfect wording Marinette_ , “I-I need someone who encourages me and understands me and never makes me feel uncomfortable and – she started fidgeting her hands – “that someone is you, Luka. I need you.”

Luka was taken aback from that statement, he shifted on the couch, his eyes wide in surprise. He didn’t know how to react, he had always thought that Marinette would have never loved him the way that he loved her, and he had accepted it. He tried to move on with little success, and when she told him that she was seeing someone, he decided to put his feelings aside for good. He was fine until he met _him_ and saw that Marinette wasn’t really happy. He was fine until the cabin happened.

“I know that this is not the right time but I care about you Luka, and I want to be with you. And I think I’ve always wanted to be with you, but I didn’t see it until... – Marinette inhaled and looked down at her lap, she was still nervously playing with her hands. Luka was fighting the urge to make her stop by putting his hands on hers – until I started comparing him to you”.

“Marinette” the boy called her name softly.

She seemed not to have heard him since she started talking again, “I tried to ignore that, I told myself that the only reason I did it was because you are one of the few people who genuinely cares about me and shows it in the smallest way, so it was right for me to test him like this. You never let me walk away from your place with a sad face, and you never let me walk home alone when it’s late at night. He... used to do that?

“And that hit me, you know? I ignored it just because I can take care of myself, but he didn’t seem to care about me. It seemed like I was the only one who was trying to make it work, and it wasn’t really worth it”, she concluded, still not brave enough to face him.

Luka stayed silent, what could he have possibly said?

“Luka, you make things easier, and I can be myself around you. You’re smart, kind, caring and… I love you”, she blurted out, finally turning to him “and I always have, and I’m sorry I didn’t see this before because it’s too late now and you must have moved on but I don’t want to do the same mistake again. I don’t want to let you go without you knowing how I feel about you”.

At that, Luka shook himself from his dumbfound state and took Marinette’s hands. He didn’t have the right words for her this time, so he decided to let his actions speak. He placed one of her hands on his chest, right where his heart was beating and Marinette gave him a confused look though her big blue eyes.

“It still beats for you”, he said, a sweet smile forming on his face. Marinette’s face bloomed with joy as she leaned into him, cupping his face with both of her hands and kissing him. He responded to her gesture almost immediately, placing his hand on the back of her neck as he kissed her back. It was slow, tender and warm, and Marinette felt like she could melt into his strong arms. She smiled on his lips, kissing Luka was like a breath of fresh air after spending a long day in her room working on her designs, it was as sweet as summer and as delicate as the way he moved his fingers on his guitar when he played her heart’s song. Marinette had never felt so happy.

Luka pressed his forehead into hers when they parted, and gently thumbed her cheek as their eyes locked. They admired each other in comfortable silence before Luka spoke, “Listen, since you interrupted my breakfast, how about I treat you to lunch?”

“I’d love to”, Marinette smiled, finally feeling that everything was falling into place.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think about it, any comment or suggestion is very welcome!  
> If you follow me on [tumblr](https://chrwrites.tumblr.com/) you've probably read that I'm thinking about writing about that week at Ivan's cabin from another perspective, and you can have a taste [here](https://chrwrites.tumblr.com/post/628041706503307264/remember-this-idea-well-yesterday-i-woke-up) if you like!  
> I'll start working on this as soon as Take Me As You Please is done!  
> Thank you again for your support, it really means a lot to me, I hope you're having a wonderful day! <3


End file.
